Method of grinding and surfacing.



H. B. NICHOLS. METHOD OF GRINDING AND SURFAGING.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 22, 1909.

Patented; June 14, 1910.

8 SHEETS-SHEET l.

H. B. NICHOLS.

METHOD OF GRINDING AND SURFACING.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 22 1909.

Patented June 14, 1910.

B SHEETSSHEET 2.

H. B. NICHOLS.

METHOD OF GRINDING AND SURFAOING.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 22, 1909.

961,535 Patented June 14, 1910.

ESHEETS-SHEET 3.

H. B. NICHOLS.

METHOD OF GRINDING AND SURFAGING.

APPLIOATION FILED JULY 22, 1909.

61,523, Patented June 14,1910.

8-SHEETS.SHEIIT 4.

H. B. NICHOLS.

METHOD or GRINDING AND SURFAGING.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 22, 1909.

961,523., Patented June 14, 1910.

8 SHBETS'-BHEET 5.

H. B. NICHOLS.

METHOD OF GRINDING AND SURFAGING.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 22, 1909.

Patented June 14, 1910.

8 SHEETS-SHEET 6.

H. B. NICHOLS.

METHOD OF GRINDING AND SURFAGING.

APPLIOATION nun JULY 22, 1909.

Patented June 14, 1910.

8 SHEETS-SHEET 7' H. B. NICHOLS.

METHOD or GRINDING AND SURPAGING. APPLICATION FILED JULY 22 1909. 961 523 Patented June 14, 1910.

B SHEETS-SHEET 8.

senses.

HENRY B. nrcnons, or rnrnannnrnra, rnmtsrnvemn.

.METHOD OF GRINDING- AND SURFAGING.

' Specification of Letters Patent. Patented J 14, 1910 Qriginal application filed September 5, 1908, Serial No. $51,875. Divided and this application filed July 22,

1909. Serial No. 508,941.

in drawing.

y invention relates to methods of metal working and especially to methods of grinding.

.It has for its object the provision of an improved method foraccurately grinding plane surfaces with particular reference to p the surface of railway rails.

My present method may be practiced with divers forms of apparatus, some of them automatic and others hand-operated, but I prefer to practice it with .my improved grinding machine which forms the subject matter of Patent No. 944,902 December 28, 1909, of which the present case is a division.

Briefly stated, my invention contemplates the continuous removal of a. predetermined amount of material from the work at each cut, maintaining this out constant by causing the amount of motion or the position of the cutting means as determined by the amount of material removed at each. portion of the cut to regulate the next portion of the cut.

The machine forming the subject matter of the parent application, and with which I prefer to practice the present invention, is

I illustrated in the accompanying drawings in removed. Fig. 3 is a side view looking in the direction of the arrow in F i 1. Fig. 4 is a plan view. Fig. 5 is a si e view of heel and bracket detached from the. machine. Fig. 6 is a side View of the complete machine showing pedestal and bridge, with parts mounted thereon. Fig. 7 is an end elevation of the same. Figs. 8 and 9 are detail figures showing a caliper with other parts removed.

It has already been stated that the princifples involved in this invention are capable o embodiment .in divers forms and such embodimentsare applicable to divers purposes. I believe the idea of automatic calipering so as to regulate the cut in a machine is original with me, and while I have heretofore described and claimed the same as applied to.the surface of the Work, I present herein for the first time automatic calipering means a plied to the tool. In the present' state 0 the art, which in this respect'is passing through a transition period, grinding processes are being substituted for so-called cutting, or steel tool processes in many cases, It has come to be recognized that a surface can be ground for a finish with great accuracy, and the rough cuts taken off as well, and in fact that the grinding wheel is neither more or less than a cutting tool which. under normal conditions of speed and pressure makes a great number of small cuts and produces correspondingly small chips.

In all precision work where a grinding cutter is employed, compensation must be provided for the wear on the grinding body. This is the prime source of inaccuracy in grinding processes, and to correct it, the ordinary manual adjustment is both clumsy and inefiicient. To roduce the best results, the cut must be uni ormly and continuously regulated, and the means for doing this are applicable to many other forms of metal working machines and cutting tools than those which I shall now describe.

This grinding machine is built in genera somewhat after the fashion of the ordinary planer, and it may either have a reciprocating bed, or a traveling tool su port or bridge, preferably the former. The rame and other general features of the machine are omitted from the drawings for simplicity, and bebeneath the superposed frame 3, upon which are mounted a pair of grinding wheels 4 and 5. The rail 6 lies u on the support 2,

which is shaped so as to t into the angle of the tram and web, the latter being horizontal. This rojects the head and foot flanges vertically so that their inner faces 7 and 8 may be engaged by the wheels 4 and 5. It has alrea been explained that the relation of these 2 I constant as regards both distance and angle, and also that the joint relation of these two faces and the surface 9 on the head 10 must be maintained constant, or, in other words,

that the thickness of the head must not vary. To secure these results, and in order to guard against any variation due to the wearing away ofthe wheels, the latter are made adjustable to and from each other,

also in an are having a large vertical comonent; and all these adjustments are reerred to certain fixed stops or guides which determine a fixed plane in which the surface 9 must rest during grinding. These stops or guides are constructed as brackets 11 and 12, held in T-slots 13 and 14 formed in lugs on the underside of the frame 3.

Each bracket is bifurcated as shown at 15, and carries a hardened steel roll 16 journaled on a pin 17. A further adjustment is provided which is never changed during the operation of the machine and is therefore not properly classed with the others. This is the adjustment of the rolls 16 toward and away from the rail-support 2. It is of use when setting up the machine for different shapes or sizes of rails, and for taking up wear on the rolls and pins. It is accomplished through the agency of shouldered feed screws 18 and 19, whose shoulders 20 lie upon opposite sides of projecting abutments on the frame, and whose threaded stems engage .the brackets 11 and 12 to move them in the T-slots. For operative purposes 40.

these brackets with their rolls may be referred to as the fixed guides, since they, with the support 2 determine the correct position o1f1 each' rail as it is run through the mac me.

It will be observed that thegrinding is accomplished by the faces of the wheels, which work against the surfaces 7 and 8 in opposite directions. Edge grinding ;on the same wheels, and also grinding on the inner faces may be resorted to, but in grinding rails as shown the wear will all be on the outer faces, 6. 6., those which lie away from each other. To compensate for this wear feed screws 21 and 22 are provided, carried in overhanging brackets 23 and 24 and acting upon the wheels through travelers 25 and 26; and in order to permit of the auto- 'matic control of these feed screws in response to wear on the wheel, a peculiar construction of the latter is resorted to which I will'now describe.

Fig. 1 shows the wheels 7 edge on, the

dotted lines indicating their sectional for-' aces 7 and 8 must be its face ex osed. Tlie body of the wheel is ticable to apply the automatic calipers directl to the surface of this abrasive materia I provide inserts in the sha e of annular bodies of anti-friction or ubricant material at131 and, 32. The 'best material.

for this purpose which I have found up to the \present time is graphite molded 1nto channels or grooves in the wheels. I

The two wheels 4 and 5 are uniform, although of course reversed as to their mountin and a description of one will therefore.

su ce for both. The bracket 28 is U-shape, with spindle bearings in the extremities 33 and 34 of its arms or bifurcations, and a stem or trunnion-36 fitted to bearings 37 formed on the frame 3, and shouldered at 38 to prevent end play. Each bracket may thus be turned in the bearings 37, in order tochange the angle of the wheel spindle 29 or 30 and therefore of the face of the wheel, relativelyto the frame 3'. This angular motion is limited and the adjustment held by means of a slotted arm 39 on the outer end of the trunnion which is bolted at 40 to a' lug 41 on the frame 3. The outer arm of the bracket 28 has an upstanding extension 35 cast upon it, both this and the U-arms being flanged to secure rigidity, and the upper end of the arm 35 carrying the overhang 24 and feed screw 22, together with a solenoid 42 and a ratchet mechanism actuated thereby for turning the feed screw. For the urpose of setting up the machine and preliminary adjustment the screw 22 has a squared head 43 outside of the arm 35.

The solenoid and ratchet mechanism are best shown in F ig. 5. The ratchet wheel 44 is fixed upon the feed screw, and cooper ating with it is a pawl 45 pivoted at 46 on a rocker plate which turns on the stem of the screw, so the device is s -centering. The plate 47 is pivotally connected at 48 to the plunger 49 of the solenoid 42 (for which any desired type of electromagnet can be substituted) and the pawl is kept normally retracted b means of a spring 50. When the solenoi is energized its core or lunger is drawn in and the plate 47 is turne to the left in Fig. 5, causing the awl to turn the ratchet and with it the fee screw 22.

The traveler or nut "26 carries an arm 51 which extends down and engages a collar fixed on the grinding head or the spindle, preferably the former. If the former, then the bushing of the heador wheel is splined ing head, which moves in the direction of its" passes to the axis, or on lines normal to'thesurfaoe7 or 8, thus maintaining the angle of the out constant, while compensating for wear.

The adjustment thus described could of} course be brou ht'about manually, but one 1, of my princi a objects is to make this automatic, and ep'endent-upon as'well as roportionate to the actual wear on the sur ace of the wheel. ';This object is at-tained'by the use of theautomatic calipersfwhich will now.

be described a The two spindles 29 and 30 are drive y belts 52 and 53 taking over ulleys 54 55 secured upon the spindles :Lthe U-arms of the respective (128. For the sake of uni- I fjdin'g, both belts preferably ower from the same countermter'medi; I brackets" 27 an formit yai derive their.

shaft,which; 1s"not shown but which may be either above'or to the rear of the machine.

.One of the'spindles .30 carries a pulley 56 outside of its hearing, from which a belt 57 ulley 58 of the calipering" mechanism. T e latter is mounted on a odically actuated by a double recgp slide bar 65, 66, having an interm rearward extension '3 of. the frame 3-, and comprises-the caliper levers 59 and'60 pivoted at 61 and'62,' provided with rearwardly extending contact arms 63 and 64 andperirocating iate cam, frame 67 and driven throu h a worm wheel from the spindle 68 an pulley 58. It

should be noted that the drivin pulleys of .the spindles 29 and 30 are pre erably connected thereto with a universal motion, so

v them on the centers. 7 cessive twisting of the belt '57, the driving that their axes will remain parallel to the countershaft for all angular adjustments of. thespindles, their centers at the same time remaining fixed, each in the axis prolonged of its trunnion 36, sothere is no variation in the tension of the belts. A similar effect may be produced. bygivin these pulleys approximately spherica sur aces, or curving In orderitoavoid ex:

spindle 68 of the cali ering device is ee manentl set at an ang e' so that its axis willbe para lel to the axis of thespindle 30,- from which it is driven. when the latter spindle is in its normal or intermediate posi' turns a short stub shaft 71 journaled on the frame 3. This stub shaft in turn communicates motion through miter gears 72 -to an upstanding shaft 73 carrying a cam 74 which as it rotates impinges on one and then the other of the cam projections 75, 76 formedm opposite sides of the frame 67, thus throwingthe fr'amealte'rnately in opposite .directionsahd carrying with it the slide bars v6 5 ;--66. .Qnthe ends of these bars are'collars 80 and 81, secured by set screws 82 and 83 *1 and provided with depending fingers 84-85 (see Fig. 2), the lower ends of whichengage between flanges on the collars? 86 and 87 fitted to slide-upon 'the fixed bar 88, mounted below andparallelto the doublebar 65 and 66. Thus, as the upper bar is reciprocated by the double or actuating cams,

.the collars move with it, and in so moving them advance their associated calipers one at a timeinto en agement with the surface of the wheel, and 1f the latter is worn so that lar caliper in contact will become advanced far enough for-the tail'of its lever 63 or 6-1 to close contact at 89 or 90 as the case may ofthe worn wheel.

The structure and detailed arrangement the line of cut is below normal, the particube and thereby to afi'ect the feed mechanism I of the caliper levers is best shown in Figs.

8 and 9, which are detail views with the other parts removed. Each lever is in three parts, the body 91-, the forwardly extending arm 92 and the rearwardly extendin contact arm 93. The body is in the form or a sleeve sliding upon bar 88, and engaged by. two

coiled springs and 96, the former resting against the collar 86 and the latter against an extension of the frame carrying the bearing for the shafts. Theses rings are'no'rmally ad usted so that the b0 y or sleeve will remain in an intermediate position with their caliper or feeler out of contact with the wheel, as shown in Fig. 4. The lever 93 ispivoted at 93 upon a rigid bracket pro- .1ectin'g from the bearing portion of the frame. This pivot point is so located asto leave a long contact arm, and a relatively short actuating arm, connection of the latter with the body being edecte'd by means of s pivot 93 Thus, as the body reciprocatcs on the bar 88, the lever 93 is turned upon'the pivot 93. I The arm 92 carries feelers shown in the form of'steel rollers 99, adapted-to touch the 'graphited rings in the face of their wheel when'the caliper is actuated. These are carried upon a holder, rotatably adjustable in a socket (piece '79, and locked when adjusted by means of a set-screw 101. This socket piece has a vertical adjustment in the holder or yoke '92, this being regulated by the screws 61 or 62.

The sprin s 95 and 96 are of such relative strengths, t at 96 normally overcomes 95 and orces the body 91 to the leftin Figs. 6 and 7. When the collar 86. or 87 is moved however, it compresses its associated spring 95 putting sufiicleii tg'ftensionthereon to overcome the spring thereby pushing-the body 91Jalong t ,e

bar 88, carrying the feelers or are periodicall rollers 99 into contact withtheir wheel, and at the same time turning the lever 93 on its It will be observed that while the movement is ositive, the connections are all resilient, so t at no fine adjustments are required in these connections between the cam frame, the slidin bars and the calipers.

' The rollers 99 are hefd when adjusted upon the holder 60 by means of lock-nuts 100, and of course the rotation of this holder in its sleeve together with the vertical adjustment of the sleeve or socket permits the adaptation of the rollers to any position of the wheel 4 or 5.

Electrical connection is effected with each caliper lever by means of a. binding post 97, and the terminal contacts 89 and 90 are associated with-insulated fixed terminals 98. These terminals 97 and 98 are connected in a circuit which includes a suitable source of current and the windings of the solenoid 42. Upon the closure of the contacts by either caliper, its solenoid will become energized, and will .thereupon advance its wheel in the manner hereinbefore described.

It will be noted that the stub shaft 73 is notv exactly vertical but is perpendicular to the spindle 68. It will appear from Fig. 2 that'the cam surfaces are correspondingly inclined, bringing the points of impact of the cam 74 on the teeth 75 and 76 to theupper part of one and the lower part of the other, the frame 67 being broad enough to permit this. It is thought the operation of the machine will be sufliciently apparent from the description without any detailed statement thereof; As a brief recapitulation however, it may be stated that when a rail is to be ound, the machine is first set up with all t e parts adjusted substantially as shown in the accompanying drawings.

The rail is then introduced, and the main feed mechanism with its stops set so as to produce the len' h of cut desired. The wheels 4 and 5 ing rotated through to driving pulle s, produce cuts .of a predetermined depth, and at redetermined angles in the head and foot anges. The calipers brought into action in the manner hereto ore pomted out, and as long as the wheel surfaces are not worn to a greater extent than the maximum variation permitted and predetermined in thework, the feed is not affected. As soon as the wheel surfaces wear however, to an amount exceeding the predetermined limit, each caliper will closeits contacts 89 or 90, energizing its respective solenoid, and step around its feed screw 21 or 22 so as to move the wheel and its sleeve or bushing upon the s indle and compensate for the, wear. In

to grind on their inner instead of their outer faces; and thus it is possible to pass an object between the two wheels, and grind both its outside faces simultaneously, each at a different angle if so desired. In addition to thus varying the uses of this specific machine, the wheel parts and driving mechanism may be changed, remodeled or redesi ed for any desired class of work, and

this without departing from my invention if the main principle is still employed, which is to maintain a constant *cut by causing the cutting surface to affect mechanismwhich will automatically and continuously compensate for wear. Obviously, this principle maybe embodied in machines employing edgecutting instead'of face cutting wheels, or in metal working machines employin steel cutting tools instead of abrasives. Al

such variations are contem lated by me, and are to be considered-as wel within the scope of the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Pat cut. is

In 'metal work, the method of producing a uniform cut unaffected by wear of the cut- 

